16 - AVR 23 - débat CMTV

Anchor João Ferreira - This special by CMTV 'Maddie, the Mystery', is
going to focus on the book that I hold in my hands: "Maddie, the Truth
of the Lie". It was written by Gonçalo Amaral, former Judiciary Police
(PJ) coordinator. The man that was at the forefront of the investigation
during the first months of the case, a case that has been dragging on
for the past nine years. It's the book where Gonçalo Amaral reveals his
truth about the mystery of the Maddie Case, a truth for which he was
removed from the investigation and the reason why he requested an early
retirement from the Judiciary Police (PJ), after 26 years of service. A
truth, according to which the little girl died accidentally. Following
that death, an unwanted and accidental death, the parents concealed
their own daughter's cadaver. This is the truth that we are going to
analyse in this special, where the man that wrote this book - and has
just been acquitted by the Appeals court of Lisbon and absolved of
having to pay a compensation of 500,000 euro to the McCann couple - will
break the silence. A special where we are going to ask uncomfortable
questions to Gonçalo Amaral, where we will confront his truth with other
possible truths. Right now, let us have a look to the truth revealed in
this book that is now allowed to see the light of day.News Segment 1Kate McCann (archive footage 2007) - (in English then in Portuguese) Please, give our little girl back.Voice Over Mónica Palma - Abduction, defend the McCanns. Accident and
concealment of the cadaver is the belief of Gonçalo Amaral.Gonçalo Amaral (archive footage 2014) - If Madeleine McCann is truly
dead, I doubt the body still exists. In that church there was a coffin
with the cadaver of an elderly British lady which in the following day
was going to Ferreira do Alentejo to be cremated. It was possible for
the body of a child of that age and size to be concealed underneath that
cadaver.(1) VO - After six months of investigation, the former PJ inspector
is removed from the Maddie Case, and this is one of the issues that was
the object of his reflection. In the book that Gonçalo Amaral published,
"Maddie, The Truth of the Lie", there is a chapter dedicated to that
topic: the removal of a coordinator from an investigation, conspiracy or
subservience?, questions the former PJ inspector. And it is precisely
due to the 220 pages written by Amaral and a DVD with a documentary
about Maddie, that the PJ inspector became the target of a lawsuit, a
legal process that has been dragging for numerous years. In 2009, the
McCann couple went to justice, demanding from Gonçalo Amaral a
compensation of 1,2 million euro. The McCanns considered the publication
and the documentary defamatory, they alleged to have suffered moral
damages. The British couple considered that their rights, liberties and
guarantees of the family were violated. The defence of the McCann family
considered that Gonçalo Amaral could not have revealed information that
appeared in the process of the investigation to Madeleine's
disappearance. The defence also alleged that the book was ready three
days after the prosecutor of Portimão, Magalhães e Menezes, redacted the
dispatch that archived the process against the McCann couple, which had
the date of 29 of July of 2008. In the book, the former criminal
investigation coordinator of the PJ, Gonçalo Amaral, defends the thesis
that Maddie's parents were involved in the disappearance and in the
concealment of the 3-year-old girl's body. The McCann's defence lawyer,
Isabel Duarte, argued that the author, Gonçalo Amaral, used unauthorized
documents from the process, documents that were prohibited. This was a
process that dragged in court for years, with successive postponements
of court sessions and an attempt to an extra-judicial settlement between
the parties, which never came into fruition.KMC (archive footage, press conference 2014) - We took on this
case because of the pain and distress that Mr. Amaral has brought to us
and our children.Gerald McCann - We want to get justice for Madeleine.VO - In January 2015, the civil court, ended up condemning
Gonçalo Amaral to pay to each one of the McCann couple,
Kate and Gerry, the amount of 250,000 europlus interest,
counting back from January 5 of 2010. Besides this payment, the civil
court also decreed the prohibition of sales of new editions of the book
and DVD, as well as the negotiations to transfer the copyright of both
book and documentary. Gonçalo Amaral appealed, and there was a
turnaround in this process. The Court of Appeals of Lisbon ruled in
favour of the PJ inspector and revoked the sentence. The judges
understood that Amaral acted within the framework of the legitimate
right to exercise an opinion. The court considered the facts presented
in the book and DVD, were, some of them, divulged by the McCanns
themselves in numerous interviews all over the world. Gonçalo Amaral
will not have to pay the indemnification of 250,000 euro to each member
of the McCann couple. Gonçalo Amaral's book will soon return to the
bookshops, however, Kate and Gerry have already stated that they will
appeal to the Supreme Court of Justice. Kate and Gerry, who have always
maintained that Madeleine was abducted, were constituted as arguidos
(suspects) in September 2007, but were cleared in July 2008 for lack of
evidence to sustain the hypothesis advanced by the investigation to the
alleged accidental death of the little girl.
Maddie, disappeared on May 3, 2007, just a few days before of her fourth
birthday. The English girl disappeared from this apartment (image of
apartment is shown) in Praia da Luz, in the Algarve, where she was
sleeping along with her younger twin siblings. JF - In the studio, in this special, we have Gonçalo
Amaral, former PJ coordinator; Rui Pereira, CMTV commentator and
Minister of Internal Affairs at the time of Maddie's disappearance;
Manuel Rodrigues, former chief inspector of the Judiciary Police and
also a CMTV commentator and Tânia Laranjo, Correio da Manhã and CMTV
journalist, who followed closely the investigations to the Maddie case.
Good-evening gentlemen, good-evening madam, it's a pleasure to be here
with you all. Gonçalo Amaral, I'll start with you, good-evening, thank
you for being here.Gonçalo Amaral - Good-evening, thank you for the invitation.JF - Did this investigation destroy your career?GA - No, it interrupted my career. I had a dignified
professional path in terms of work and progress in the hierarchy, I was
an officer, an inspector, then chief-inspector, then I was a coordinator
and could have gone a bit further, in fact at the time of the
disappearance, when the case happened, I had applied for the role of
superior coordinator of the Judiciary Police, it was a matter of time.
So, that was the interruption, the life change, the career change, if I
had stayed maybe I could have been in another professional position.JF - Do you feel like a victim of the circumstances?GA - No, I never considered myself as a victim then nor now.
I felt at a certain point in time and this was part of the reasons that
motivated me to write the book, that there was a full campaign of
defamation and insults. A campaign that is likely to begin again given
the court result, I have no doubts that it may happen again. That is
usual under the circumstances associated with this case. So, I was a
target of that. I requested at the time, I almost demanded it in fact,
that is demand between inverted commas, for the Judiciary Police
direction to come out in our defence. Not only in my defence, but in the
defence of all the officers that were working on the case and were
called names such as drunks, alcoholics, of being lazy, incompetents,
and so on. There were intrusions on our private lives, we were under
surveillance, a series of things. Nothing was done about that. Then I
begun to understand that the process was going to be archived, a
conversation on that subject took place and it was then that I decided
that it was enough. There was a preceding moment where I went to Faro
(PJ headquarters)...(2)JF - After you were removed from the investigation?GA - Yes, removed from the direction, from being the officer
in charge of Portimão. I thought that everything would end there, but
no, the attacks went on. I asked at that time to Dr. Alípio Ribeiro, to
send me to... JF - The National Director of the Judiciary Police?GA - Yes, he was the director of the Judiciary Police. I
asked him to let me go to the Azores, so I could regain some peace. I
wanted to get away of these issues. They understood that I should stay
and do my job in Faro, there I stayed, things went on until I've decided
to.. I couldn't stand it any longer.JF - But you asked to the Direction of the Judiciary Police to write this book? To reveal your truth?GA - Yes, it does have to do with that. There was a problem,
either I would write the book and stay in the Judiciary, and then the
Judiciary would be liable or I could leave the Judiciary and anything
that might happen would be on me. So, I set the Judiciary Police aside
of the problem, and I left the Judiciary Police in order to regain the
plenitude of my rights.JF - Did Alípio Ribeiro pull the rug from under your feet?GA - No, he did not. No one pulled the rug from under
anyone's feet. There were a series of circumstances that lead to this
outcome. A colleague of mine is present here today, and he knows that
it's very unlikely for the PJ's direction to defend its men. Maybe with
another director, I'm recalling Dr. Marques Vidal
- to whom I express my gratitude for his support since the very outset,
right from when the book was published, he presented the book - maybe
it would have been different, maybe the protection of the officers would
have been another. But Dr. Marques Vidal was an unique case, a director
of the Judiciary Police that we will never have again.JF - A leader more brave than others?GA - He had a great understanding of the officers, he was a
very humane man, and defended those that risked, that worked at times
almost without a net, he was there, present. I could tell you several
stories, from the time of the Cavacos,
the support that Dr. Marques Vidal gave to the men on the ground. These
are facts that can be verified, but we're digressing from the topic. I
would like to add, that I have nothing against Dr. Alípio Ribeiro.JF - But do you think that Alípio Ribeiro didn't resist the pressures?GA - No, no, I believe that... For example, in this issue of
requesting to the Direction of the PJ to speak in our defence or to
allow me to speak, I wrote a letter addressed to the directorate of the
Judiciary Police, addressed to Dr. Alípio Ribeiro. Later, I learned that
that letter never reached his hands, he never read it. The letter
stopped at his assistants, therefore I can't accuse him of anything,
it's not his fault, it's the fault of the structural machine that
exists, additionally the PJ direction does not usually come out in
defence of its officers. Note that we're talking about the direction of
the Judiciary Police but we could equally talk about the ASFIC
(Association of the Criminal Investigation Officers of the Criminal
Police), I ask - what did ASFIC do for the officers, for its members,
that were on the field, then and after? For example, right now, until
now, what did they do? Has ASFIC direction, at any time - regarding
myself, a retired officer with success on the work I did - ever called
me? Either to congratulate, at this point in time or whatever. Nothing
at all.JF - Why do you think is that, Gonçalo?GA - Maybe it's our culture, of the Portuguese, who knows?
Maybe because I'm no longer in the police, have nothing to do with the
PJ.JF - Are you saying that there is fear from the people in the Judiciary to come out in your defence?GA - I wouldn't say fear. I find it strange, a very odd
situation. Those who have congratulated me at this point in time, for
this decision - a decision that has not yet been rendered final, and may
still be the target of an appeal - but those who have congratulated me
were colleagues that are retired, not colleagues in active functions.
Not even a single colleague on the active congratulated me. On the other
hand, I had the support of colleagues in the active from the British
police, who also have been present along the years.(3) JF - Let us move now to your truth, the truth that is here in this book...GA - Well, that is another issue. That is not my truth...JF - It's the factual truth.GA - Not even that, that book represents the elements of the Judiciary Police...JF - So, it's the material truth of the Judiciary Police?GA - We could even say that the book is the opinion of the
Judiciary Police until September 2007. Not my truth alone.JF - And that opinion, Gonçalo Amaral, describes a scenario where the little girl Maddie suffered an accidental death...GA - That is what is described in the PJ report written by the Chief Inspector Tavares de Almeida.JF - ...a death unwanted by the parents and in face of that death the parents concealed the cadaver.GA - Yes, there was an infringement. What that means is...JF - So, for you Gonçalo the parents should be behind bars? Should they be punished for these crimes?GA - No, no, it doesn't have to do with that. For us to read
and understand that book, we also have to understand the moment, the
progress of the investigation. And we need to understand that an
investigation has a beginning, a middle and an end, as my colleague
Moita Flores says an investigation is always zigzagging and he's right
about that. At that point in time of the investigation, when the
archival was decided, the archival was decided in early October of
2007... Whomever lead the process after me, was there to adjust the
process so it could be archived. (4)Any colleague of mine can see that it
is the adjustment of the process so it can be archived; all of us have
at some point in time archived processes when reaching a dead end and we
all know what to do so no investigative leads are left unfinished. So,
at that point in time of the investigation that was the line of
reasoning of the Judiciary Police. Not my line of reasoning alone, it's
of the whole team, of the Judiciary Police as an institution. I will go
further, after that, nothing was done concerning that line of
investigation that... JF - Of the accidental death.GA - ...we can say, of the probable responsibility of the
parents in the mysterious disappearance of the child, with all that
entails, but this is the essential. Yet, that line of investigation was
set aside. Even the Scotland Yard investigation and so on, never
explored that line of investigation, and now they've reached a dead end.
They constituted, derided in my opinion, - this is what this is all
about, opinion and freedom of expression - in my opinion as coordinator,
as an investigator, that increase, that creation of numerous arguidos was a derision of that institution. There were two or three arguidos - the English didn't even know the meaning of arguidos was - and they decided to constitute even more arguidos, and now we have an ocean of arguidos. Before we had a few drops and now we have an ocean where virtually nothing can be seen, a way to bury, to obscure.JF - I would like for you to tell us in detail your explanation for the disappearance of the body, you have a thesis..GA - No, I don't have one.JF - ... in this book...GA - No, in that book there isn't anything concerning what
we just saw me saying on the news piece that was shown. Because these
are elements, these are information that appeared afterwards and were
never investigated. It's just an hypothesis, and when considering that
hypothesis...JF - An hypothesis that Madeleine's body could have been hidden, could have been incinerated, right?GA - There's an information here, in the police, that
mentions that. That in a night, three figures were seen carrying a bag,
entering the church...JF - In the Praia da Luz church.GA - In that church was a coffin of a woman, a woman from the United Kingdom...JF - Of a British woman.GA - ... and in the following day that coffin was
transferred to Ferreira do Alentejo to be incinerated. But no one is
saying that the parents did that, or saying who did that. It's something
that someone who is on the field investigating has to ascertain, must
investigate thoroughly.JF - But you concede that hypothesis, that possibility of
Madeleine's cadaver being taken to the church, and then incinerated is a
plausible hypothesis...GA - We're practically starting by the end, first is the
disappearance, if you allow me to explain, to explain to the viewers...
[overlapping speech]JF - I'll allow you, but just so not to lose this train of thought, is this hypothesis plausible for you?GA - It is plausible, and I say plausible in this sense,
that that body would fit underneath the cadaver that was already there.JF - And it would fit?GA - It would, yes. At the time, when I was already out of
the Judiciary Police I obtained the opinion of people that dealt with
that, of funeral agencies, and they said that it was a possibility. It's
an opinion that is not officialized but it's a possibility. If it
happened like that or not, we don't know, there are several hypotheses
to make a body disappear.JF - Let's go back to the beginning then Gonçalo, on the
disappearance. What are the indications, post-disappearance that helped
construct the material truth that appears here in the book?GA - Nine years have passed, I would have to look at the
book pages and explain them to you in detail. There were several clues, the contradictions, the discrepancies in the statements of
those people, other witness statements that said they saw the father
carrying the child at a certain hour, there are a series of indications
that point towards that. To give you a full report on that would be
tiresome, I believe most people know or are already aware. That was
talked about numerous times throughout years. So, clues and some
evidence, evidence in inverted commas, concerning the vestiges that were
collected and sent to the English forensics laboratory for analyses, it
is said that there could have been a manipulation of all that data,
it's still not clear what happened. I recall that before we had the
official report, we had a preliminary report which indicated that the
fluids found in the car rented a month after the disappearance belonged
to Madeleine McCann. And when the report arrived, it was no longer like
that. (5)It was said at the time that the profile with a series of alleles
matched Madeleine's, yet they said that anyone in that laboratory could
have contributed to that profile. So, why did it match to Madeleine's,
and not, say to the US president profile? There's something very strange
about that analysis, something that should be questioned, verified,
investigated. I believe that when forensic analyses are done, the
laboratory technician has to keep a record of what he is doing. I don't
know if that was destroyed or not, but it should exist along side the
report.JF - Of course. Gonçalo Amaral before I'll return to you, let us now
pay close attention to the next news segment. The disappearance of
Madeleine Mccann was since the start embroiled in mystery. Maddie
disappeared in Praia da Luz, in the Algarve on May 3, 2007, a few days
before her fourth day. Let us now watch a reconstitution of that fateful
Thursday.

Reconstruction segment*Images of the crime scene, inside and outside apartment 5A, appear on
the screen; also of Madeleine McCann and her twin brother and sister,
followed by the caption “Where is Maddie?” – then the programme starts.VO - On that Thursday of the 3rd of May, 2007,
the McCanns’ decide not go to the beach with the other three couples –
their friends. Instead, Gerry and Kate spend their day at the Ocean
Club.
That day, the couple never leaves the holiday compound but, even so,
they do not keep their children with them. Maddie aged three, and the
twins Amelie and Sean, aged two, spend their day at the Ocean Club’s
crèche (the children’s day care centre).
At 9:10 AM, Gerry delivers the children to the crèche.
The crèche staff take the children to the beach. Between 10:30 and 11
hours, Madeleine plays on the beach with other children. Kate collects
the children from the crèche at 12:25 and returns them (to the crèche)
at 14:50 hours.
A few hours later (around 16:00) Kate is jogging on the beach. At 17:30,
she returns to the crèche to pick up her three children and to take
them back home to apartment 5A.
At the same time Kate McCann is collecting her children from the crèche,
their friends (that is the other three couples) drink on the esplanade
(terrace) of the restaurant Paraíso, in Praia da Luz (17:35 hours on the
CCTV video caption).
The CCTV cameras of the restaurant capture the presence of the British
group in a buoyant mood. Their children are with them. (It looks like) a
tranquil (and enjoyable) end to their afternoon.Short break in the voice-over with more images shown
At exactly 18:13 hours, the men from the group – David Payne, Russell
O’Brien and Matthew Oldfield abandon the restaurant and head in the
direction of the Ocean Club.
The women, Fiona Payne, Jane Tanner and Rachel Oldfield remain sitting
on the (restaurant’s) esplanade. They get up from their chairs at 18:30
hours – about 15 minutes after their husbands who, by then, have already
arrived back at the Ocean Club.
At 18:30, David Payne goes to meet Gerry who is (already) playing tennis
(on the courts). He asks him where Kate is. Gerry tells him, Kate is in
the apartment with the children. David heads towards the apartment.
No one knows for sure how long David stays in the apartment with Kate – his visit is shrouded in mystery.
Gerry McCann says his friend was in his apartment for about half an hour
while he played tennis, but Kate McCann says he was not there for more
than 30 seconds.
To deepen the mystery further, Fiona Payne attests she accompanied her
husband to their friends’ apartment and the couple, both Gerry and Kate,
were at home.
One thing seems certain; the (McCanns’) first floor neighbour, Pamela
Fenn, saw David Payne, around 19:00 hours, on the McCanns’ balcony.(6)
David Payne will later tell the Judiciary Police (PJ) that he had gone
to the apartment “to find out whether Kate needed help with the
children” and that he had seen Maddie and the twins there – a moment he
had come to remember as “the vision of three immaculate angels.”
Dinner time approaches.
The four couples dine together at the Tapas Restaurant in the Ocean Club
– a routine they had followed since their arrival together, on the 28th
of April. They do not bring their children with them – a few months old
baby and seven young children (toddlers) are left asleep, unattended in
their apartments, while their parents, free from care, dine until
around midnight; their children well out of their sights.
In the evening of the 3rd of May, Gerry and Kate are the first to arrive at the restaurant. The time is 20:35.
The oval table, near the swimming pool, is reserved for the British
group. By 20:45 they are all sitting at the table; Gerry and Kate,
David and Fiona Payne, Russell O’Brien and Jane Tanner, Matthew and
Rachel Oldfield and Dianne Webster – Fiona’s mother.
Kate for example, cannot do without her usual “daiquiri” as an apéritif
(a rum cocktail). The group is in the habit of drinking eight bottles of
wine – four red and four white (…)
That evening, they ordered grilled fish and meat on the spit. As they
sit and dine at the oval table, most have their backs turned against
their apartments; (but) even if they were facing the apartments, the
wall and the edges (which were in the way) would not allow them to see
(the back of) the ground floor apartments where the children are
sleeping alone. An opaque, plastic wind-breaker placed between their
table and the apartments, further obstructs their vision. Furthermore,
the (ground-floor) window of the bedroom where Maddie sleeps, is located
on the other side (front) of the apartment block which (obviously)
cannot be seen from the restaurant.
The McCanns and their friends, assured the police, they had a scheme of
vigilance (an arrangement for checking on the children). Each one of
them, in turn, would get up from the table to see if everything was all
right (to check on the children).(7)
According to the members of the group, the (checking) rounds took place every half an hour and sometimes, every fifteen minutes.
But the truth is; (exactly) what the group actually did during that
dinner – the evening Maddie disappeared – has never been (fully)
clarified.
After the authorities were alerted to Maddie’s disappearance, Russell
O’Brien provides the police with a schedule of the (checking) rounds
done (on the children) that evening. He drafted it himself on the back
of a cover he tore off from a children’s book (activities &
stickers).
Days later, the police find among Kate’s papers a manuscript (draft)
with the hours of the rounds (checking) written on it – except, this
differed from the one her friend Russell gave to the PJ.(8)
There are lapses in the memory of the McCanns’ friends (account of
events) and (worst) contradictory versions of the same (alleged events).
The police never knew with rigour, (with any degree of certainty) the
steps (movements) of each of them during that dinner. There are only
four moments that coincide; (and these are) the only ones corroborated
by witnesses.
At 21:00 hours, two men get up from the table – one is Russell O’Brien; the other Gerry McCann.(9)
They set off to the apartments (ostensibly) to check on their children.
In order to reach the apartment, Gerry has to leave the Ocean Club and
walk 20 meters of a dimly lit street to reach the small access gate to
his apartment.
(After checking on the children and ) on the way back to his dinner,
Gerry encounters Jeremy Wilkins, a BBC producer whom he had met during
this holiday.
It is now 21:05(non, il est 21:10/15). Jeremy is strolling, pushing a pram, trying to
lull his baby son into sleep. The two men greet each other and chat for a
while. The street is deserted.
(Meanwhile) Jane Tanner, the partner of Russell O’Brien, worries about
his absence from the (dinner) table and gets up (to look for him).(10)
Later, she assures the police that between 21 and 21:05 (non, vers 21:15), she saw a
stranger carrying a child in his arms at the (top of) the same narrow
street (she was walking up) and on which, at that very same time, Gerry
stood chatting with Jeremy. (But) nor Gerry or Jeremy saw anyone passing
by, nor even for that matter, noticed Jane Tanner’s presence
(walking past them.)
Around 21:30 (non, 21:15/20), Gerry returns to the restaurant’s table. Russell had
not yet arrived back (from his check). Voir (9) et (10) He finally returns close to 22
hours – nearly half an hour after Gerry. Russell explains his older
daughter had vomited, that he gave her a bath, changed her clothes and
put her back to sleep.(11)
At 21:55(non, à 21:45), as soon as Russell O’Brien arrives at the restaurant’s table, Kate McCann gets up to check on her children.
Five minutes later, around 22 (non, 21h55), she shouts from the apartment’s
balcony (at the back) facing the restaurant: “They have taken her! They
have taken her!” . No one from the group is able to see her. They can
only hear her. (12) Then, they all rush towards the (McCanns’) apartment (…)More images in and around the village of Luz (Light), followed by the caption – “Where is Maddie?” and back to the studio.

Anchor JF - The investigation to the Maddie case pursued
several lines of inquiry. There were political pressures that marked the
beginning of the investigation, which, during a first moment, shielded
the parents from becoming suspects. Kate's diary, seized a few months
later, revealed the whole machinery set up by the family to feed the
abduction thesis. (13)

News segment 2Tânia Laranjo (VO) - 3 of May of 2007, just a little before
midnight the Judiciary Police was alerted, a four-year-old English girl
disappeared from a tourist resort in Praia da Luz. The parents dined in a
near-by restaurant. It was necessary to proceed with caution, these
were doctors, unsuspicious, victims of an abduction, of a hideous crime.
Portimão was still living with the hangover of the Joana Case, Leonor
Cipriano was condemned but the delay at the start of the investigation
turned out to be tragic, the remnants of the little girl were never
found. The Judicial condemnation didn't erase the doubts. In Praia da
Luz, on that night, moments of tension were felt. When the PJ arrived on
the scene, dozens of people had already been inside the apartment. They
had contaminated vestiges, moved what could have been evidence,
destroyed evidence that no one knows what they could have clarified.
The English government acted swiftly so the parents wouldn't be
investigated, to focus on the search for the abductors.(14) Kate's diary,
seized a few months later, revealed other pressures. On the morning of
the 23rd of May, 20 days after Maddie's disappearance, before
leaving to Fátima's sanctuary, Kate and Gerry left a voice message to
Gordon Brown. Maddie's mother described it as a way to increase the
political pressure, she disclosed that Tony Blair's successor called
back only three hours later. He spoke with Gerry, was very sympathetic
and gave them strength, said Kate, who described the visit to the
catholic sanctuary as overwhelming, powerful and emotional.
Apart from the contacts with Gordon Brown, Kate's diary also revealed
other important allies. From the hiring of Clarence Mitchell as an
advisor, who was working for the government at the time, to the
conversations with the wife of the former British prime minister, Tony
Blair. Mitchell, in fact, had a pivotal role in the propaganda machine
that was set up by the McCanns within a few days. They counted on the
assistance from the British diplomacy in all the trips that were carried
out. The first trip and the one with the most intense media coverage
was the trip to Rome. They were received by Pope Benedict XVI, the
trip had been suggested by their advisor on the 27th of May, after
speaking to Francis Campbell, the British ambassador at the Vatican. The
visit to Rome was described by Kate as being very emotional, positive
and important, loads of journalists and photographers had
appeared, this was an ongoing concern present in the couple's lives.
After Rome, Madrid, Berlin, Morocco followed, trips made with the
objective to divulge Madeleine's face, followed by visits to consulates
or receptions given by British ambassadors or by political
representatives of the respective countries. (15)
Amidst all that, was an investigation marked by breakthroughs and
setbacks. Kate and Gerry started as victims, four months later Maddie's
mother was constituted as an arguida for negligent homicide. (16) The
British dogs, requested by the couple, found the little girl's trace
inside the boot of the car. (17)The vehicle was rented after the
disappearance, where DNA vestiges were also found which suggested that
Maddie had been transported in there. The genetic markers weren't
sufficient. The doubts grew, the mystery thickened. Nine years later the
narrative of the pressures remain, of a failed investigation, of a
little girl who, dead or alive, has never been found. Where is Madeleine
McCann? - the answer never came. JF - Gonçalo, what pressures did you feel during the investigation?GA - The pressures were felt immediately with the consul's
intervention (Bill Henderson) followed a few hours later after by the
British ambassador (John Buck).(14)JF - The consul and the British ambassador?GA - Yes, the consul called us at around 9am, 9:30am of the
4th of May, stating that the Judiciary police wasn't doing anything,
that we were not doing anything, and that a different kind of
intervention was needed, a diplomatic one. This did took place, the
British ambassador who was at the time in Lisbon went to Portimão where
he met with us, with me, with Dr. Guilhermino Encarnação, who was the
director of the PJ of Faro, with Dr. Luís Neves, who was also present.JF - And what was addressed in that meeting? The inaction of the Judiciary Police?GA - Well, if you notice, immediately after that meeting, a
press statement is drafted talking about an abductor, I believe that it
was Dr. Guilhermino da Encarnação who read it there and then the
parents start talking about an abductor. The pressure was in that sense,
to state that it was an abduction from the first moment.(18)JF - From the first moment there's the attempt to construct the narrative of abduction?GA - From the first moment. It was almost simultaneous, that
press statement of the Judiciary Police was read, if memory doesn't
fail me, at the door of the PJ headquarters of Portimão...TL - Yes, at the the door of the Portimão's headquarters.GA - ...and right away, on the other side of the
headquarters, was the couple giving a press statement. The meeting with
the ambassador had ended only a few minutes before.JF - But when did you and the rest of the team of PJ investigators
begin to have the belief that the explanation for this case could be in
fact related to an accidental death concealed by the parents?GA - When all the other lines of investigation, namely the
abduction, reached a dead end. So we had to go back to the starting
point. What should happen now, if the process isn't archived again, is
to do what is obligatory when following a determined line of
investigation. That is what we did then, we investigated a third party
involvement, not of the parents but of others, which enables the press
statements and that press statement of the couple, previously mentioned.
That was the abduction thesis that was investigated. We came to the
conclusion that an abduction wasn't possible. We started to have doubts,
we started to question the statement of one person, another person that
belonged to the group and was there, Jane Tanner, and the said
conflicts, and lies that happened throughout. So, we couldn't go further
in the investigation to the abduction thesis, we had to go back to the
starting point. (19) And when returning to the starting point, there's a new
inspection to the apartment where the dogs brought by the British police
were used. We were working in close cooperation with the British
police, they were always with us until the day when the couple left.
Then they all left. I wondered at the time what exactly they were doing
here then, because one thing is to assist in an investigation and the
investigation wasn't concluded when the couple left Portugal in
September 2007, and they all left in the following day, "good bye, see
you again, let's talk on the phone, exchange mails". We were left alone
when we had already reached these conclusions along with the British
police input. Earlier I spoke about the Judiciary Police's opinion, but
it was also the British police's opinion that was always present and
present in the investigations.(20)JF - So there were members of the British police whose opinions agreed with this thesis?GA - I can tell you that one of the officers, a former
police officer, that was present when the preliminary reports were
known, what he said about the results was that back in England they
would already have been arrested. (21) The issue was that report was just a
preliminary one and we needed the data of the official report, which
arrived at the PJ as it did. That was his opinion, affirmed in front of
several people who can testify to that.JF - I'll return to you soon Gonçalo. Manuel Rodrigues, good evening, thank you for being here. Manuel Rodrigues - Good evening.JF - Let me challenge you, suppose you don't know Gonçalo
Amaral and as a PJ investigator you have to assess the truth presented
by Gonçalo Amaral, which is the material truth. Is it factually
sustainable or is there a possibility of eventually Gonçalo Amaral being
obsessed by the belief that he formed and valuing more certain clues that give substance to his belief and undervalue others?MR - Good evening, I'll try to play this game with you,
and answer with the utmost honesty possible. The truth of an
investigator has to do with something that in all likelihood the common
citizen is far from understanding. That is, when a real investigator
starts an investigation, when he starts to have the perception of the
facts and events, following leads, and elaborating his belief resulting
from the findings and evidence that appear, it's obvious that he believes
in them, but he can also keep the distance and is able to evaluate all
the possible solutions available and diverging paths that may arise. I
believe that all the work that was done by Gonçalo Amaral and by the
team at the time covered all those hypotheses and for doing so, they
were able to reach determined conclusions, conclusions that he expressed
in his book. If we pay attention and want to be honest, we can verify,
that at no moment, did Gonçalo Amaral in his book or in other
situations, accuse the couple of homicide. He accused that an accidental
death took place in that apartment, that they are suspects of
concealing the cadaver, that the death is likely to have occurred as a
consequence of a tragic accident, I stress there never was an accusation
of homicide, and that there exists clear evidence of negligence in the
guardianship of the children. (22) Therefore, before this, what can I say -
it should never be believed that Gonçalo Amaral is obsessed for one
truth. The truth before him is one which results from the matter that
he investigated, that is why he refuted the abduction thesis, which they
also investigated until they reached a dead end and returned to the
beginning, believing that the thesis of what really happened was an
accidental death followed by the concealment of the cadaver, there's
nothing else to be said about that. This question that you made, if you
allow me, implicates another - is this investigation a failure or can it
be considered otherwise? I would say that in a normal process, maybe we
could say that this investigation was a failure. However, due to what
happened, with the pressures that were felt, with the press involvement,
with the involvement of advisers from the English government, with all
the manoeuvres done by the parents of the child who were always advised
by press and image assistants, the whole circus created around this
may, to some extent, signify that this investigation was a failure. I would
add that at that time, this investigation wasn't able to reach
conclusions due to all the circus that surrounded it, which effectively
prevented the police to work as it should, in a tranquil atmosphere,
following leads and constituting as arguidos those who needed that status, carrying out the reconstitutions that should have been
done, obtaining results that would not be altered, and finally creating a series of
situations that if you wish I can later detail. GA - Allow me just to add, just to reinforce, that is not my
truth, those are the conclusions of the investigation of the Judiciary
Police and of the British police.JF - You're not obsessed with this truth that is here (book)?GA - No, I'm not obsessed, and I'll tell you why. What is in
there is a specific time of the investigation, as I had said. A line of
investigation that was being followed and was never resumed, and should
be resumed. That line of investigation was not concluded, it did not
reach a dead end, do you understand? If it had been concluded, then we
would know what the results were. Now the issue here is that line of
investigation is not allowed to be pursued. (23)JF - They don't allow it obviously in your opinion?GA - Clearly not. They don't allow it.JF - But who, the Portuguese government, the Judiciary Police, the direction of the Judiciary Police?GA - It's not the Portuguese government nor the Judiciary
Police, it's the British police. At this moment, Scotland Yard, who is
doing the investigation in one direction.JF - Gonçalo I'll get back to you, we have a man here who was the Minister of internal Affairs at the time...Rui Pereira - Not at that time, no. A bit later on.JF - A bit later, two weeks later.RP - Two weeks later, yes. JF - It should be said that the Judiciary police is part of the Ministry of Justice. Rui Pereira, was the government pressured?RP - Well, I don't know but I'm going to tell you the following, and please, João, let me contextualize it.JF - Yes, of course.RP - I remember very well seeing in the English newspapers,
right in the middle of the investigation, Portugal described as an
exotic country, where the inspectors of the Judiciary Police were bushy
moustached people...JF - Exotic in what way?RP - Wait please, I'm citing from a news article of a daily
English paper, it described the Judiciary police inspectors as people
that had bushy moustaches, that enjoyed sardines and red wine. Exactly
like that ! What happened in this process - and please give
me some latitude to explain it -,what happened in this process was an initial error that caused a lot of damage to the
investigation and this is not to blame anyone...JF - What was the error?RP - The error was not constituting the parents as arguidos
for the crime of abandonment (article 138 of the Portuguese Penal
Code). Because without delay it started with a
extraordinary and ridiculous theory, in my perspective, that said that
the English have very peculiar cultural costumes and therefore it was
natural for them to leave the two-years-old twin siblings and the other
3-years-old child alone in a bedroom, for the parents to go out a few
hundred(only a hundred)meters away to socialize with their friends. JF - Professor I'll give you back the word in a few minutes, Gonçalo please be very brief, why wasn't this measure taken?GA - The measure of constituting them as arguidos? I would even go as far as to ask why weren't they constituted for abandonment as it should.JF - For abandonment.GA - For abandonment, exactly. RP - That was given some thought at the time.GA - We thought about that but... it wasn't easy.. (overlapping speech, impossible to discern what is said)(24)JF - Please let Gonçalo conclude.RP - But Gonçalo cannot answer that question, and do you know
why? Because here something else is introduced, that is the distinction
between what must be a Judiciary authority and a Criminal police body.
So, he can't answer that.GA - You're absolutely right.RP - I can answer your question. JF - Here enters the pressure.RP - The crux of the matter is this, we have a legal order -
this is not to blame anyone, it's describing what should have happened -
we have a legal order that makes the clear distinction... JF - But you can say who was responsible if you wish, Professor.RP - ...that makes the clear distinction between Judicial
authorities and Criminal Police bodies. What matters for an
inspector, an experienced one and with good reputation like inspector
Gonçalo Amaral, is to discover the material truth, with all the
difficulties that existed in that case. Hence, there should have been a
direct intervention of the Judicial authority in charge of the
process, the Public Ministry (public prosecution), to outline
a procedural strategy. JF - And there was no intervention then, in your opinion?RP - Clearly not, as far as I know...JF - But why not? The Public Ministry "washed its hands" from it, like Pilate?RP - I cannot make a process of intention (accuse), but I do know what happened. I know that..JF - And what happened for you was that there was no intervention?RP - No, not for me! What factually happened was that in the
first interrogatory the PJ police was the only authority present. The
Public Ministry, at odds to what should have been done, never defined a
procedural strategy, and the procedural strategy obviously meant to
play with certainty. jogar pelo certo And what was certain, was that the parents in an
irresponsible manner...JF - But why didn't the Public Ministry do that?RP - I don't know...JF - But do you have any suspicion, do you have any explanation for that? Were they afraid?RP - No, nothing like that. Do you know why? Because sometimes
in our relations with the foreigners, you know that racism is a very
curious phenomenon, and sometimes we almost have an inferiority complex
in relation to some foreigners. I saw reporting with a certain
bonhommie in the Portuguese media, not on the English media,
that the English really have very specific cultural costumes and it was
natural to dine and drink..JF - So you're saying the Public Ministry had an inferiority complex concerning the case, the British authorities?RP - João, let me give you another example. Give me another minute please.JF - Please professor, just answer my question before that.RP - But I'm going to answer you. Answers sometimes aren't a
simple yes or a no. I'll give you a more subtle answer, in a recent case
at the Expo (Tagus river area in Lisbon), when a Chinese child fell
from a building (21st floor), what happened to the parents? They were
constituted as arguidos.TL - They were arrested.RP - And no one said that it was natural, according to the
cultural costumes of the Chinese, to leave the child alone and go gamble
at the casino.JF - So, I can infer from your words that the Public Ministry has failed. Tânia did the public Ministry fail?GA - Allow me to say one thing, in this case, it wasn't only these parents (McCann couple) who left their children.JF - Did you feel lack of support from the Public Ministry?GA - No, I wouldn't say that. I'm telling you something
different, the other couples' children were also abandoned, and it
wasn't just for one night, it was for a whole week. In order to
constitute (the MC) arguidos for abandonment, the whole group (Tapas7) of friends would have to be constituted.JF - Did you feel alone, without the support of the Public Ministry, in the conduction of the investigation?GA - No, we don't usually have a constant presence of the
Public Ministry in investigations. The Judiciary Police advances
normally with the investigation, which is supervised by the Public
Ministry, and it also has to propose and suggest investigative steps to
the Public Ministry. In this case in particular, someone from the Public
Ministry, should have taken the decision to be present since the first
hour, which didn't happen.JF - Tânia did the Public Ministry fail from what you could gather when you followed the investigation?TL - What was visible from the interpretation of the process
and of the investigation that I followed during those months, those
first months, was that the Public Ministry was completely absent, that
is an undisputed truth, for better or for worse. Success or failure
would always be of the Judiciary police and not of the Public Ministry,
it was always completely absent of the investigation. Allow me to go
back to one point. Gonçalo Amaral, a while ago, spoke of that meeting with
the British ambassador, minutes later a press statement was read at the
door of the PJ headquarters, the truth is that moment changed
everything, from then on the Judiciary Police accepted a thesis, took on the abduction thesis, and the investigation
started absolutely restricted. (25) There, it would have been pivotal, like Professor
Rui Pereira said, for the Public Ministry to be present, even more so
to provide the guarantee and freedom for the police to be able to follow
all paths. We have two elements of the Judiciary Police here that will
naturally say this, that all investigative paths need to be followed and
that (freedom to investigate) cannot be restricted. As to the parents,
they would have to be considered suspects, naturally. The professor gave
the example of the Chinese, but years before that, and in the Algarve
as well, we had the Joana case where the mother was considered a
suspect, in the majority of these situations the parents are naturally
considered suspects from the first moment and are investigated.GA - In that case the Public ministry was present.JF - In the Joana case?TL - In the Joana case. Rui Pedro's mother, that is a case of
disappearance that has not been solved so far, she was investigated in a
first moment, and that is how it should be. With all the pain that a
mother that has nothing to do with the disappearance of its own child
must feel for being investigated. And naturally, here, we had an
inferiority complex before the English. JF - When you say 'we', are you saying the Public Ministry?TL - We, the Portuguese. We, Portuguese police, we, Public
Ministry, we, Portuguese government and we, Portuguese journalists
ourselves, because we also let at a certain moment the English impose upon us an initial thesis, the thesis that it would be
impossible for those parents to have anything to do with the
disappearance. The fact is, during those first moments, in one or
another circumstances, if the parents had not been doctors and English,
the Portuguese media would have gone for the jugular. I remember, let me
just say this.JF - Please be fast because we need to go on to a commercial break.TL - My daughter was about the same age at the time, when I
was in the Algarve, those parents, like Gonçalo Amaral said, sat every
night in that restaurant and they never had any viewing angles, it was
not possible. No Portuguese parent would ever leave a child sleeping
alone in the bedroom. RP - What if there had been a fire, what if there had been a
tragedy? Not to say anything further, but really for exposure to
abandonment there could have been other consequences...TL - At least that situation, that crime existed.JF - They should have been constituted as arguidos. Gentlemen,
madam, let us now take a very short break. After the break we'll see the
lines of investigation that still exist and should be followed in this
process. See you soon.
(commercial break)JF - The Maddie process was reopened in 2013. At this time, all
hypotheses remain open, from abduction to accidental homicide committed
by the child's parents. The English have an independent investigation.News segment 3

TL (VO) - Almost 9 years after Madeleine McCann
disappeared in Praia da Luz, in the Algarve, all hypotheses remain open.
The process was archived in 2008, re-opened in 2013. From the negligent
homicide they moved to the abduction thesis. The suspect was a man who
had since then died. He would have abducted and murdered Maddie, buried
the body in the proximities of the tourist resort. The new thesis
surfaced after a thorough examination carried out by another team of
investigators. Elements of the Judiciary Police from Oporto spent months
reviewing the process. They searched for loose ends, abandoned the
thesis defended by the team of Portimão. After all it hadn't been Kate,
Madeleine's mother had not been responsible for her death. It hadn't
been an accident. The thesis was never confirmed, the Judiciary police
investigated, searched but found nothing. At the same time they kept a
close cooperation with the English, who, in turn, continue to ask for
more investigative steps to be carried out via the letters rogatory.
They have already been on the field, asking for more excavations to be
done, but found nothing. Breakthroughs and setbacks, absence of answers,
Madeleine has never been found. There is no body, ransom note, any
solid evidence to indicate what effectively happened on the night of May
3, 2007. After 9 years the process remains open, at least until the prescription period, which will happen in 2027, twenty years after
Madeleine disappeared. JF - Gonçalo, do you believe things at this moment are being routed for the process to be archived here in Portugal?GA - I have no doubt whatsoever, what was done by Scotland
Yard is practically at an end. What they wanted to do was basically,
and I had said this before,to in a certain way give credibility to
the couple and remove all suspicions that existed concerning them.
They did a reconstitution here in Portugal, not with the couple but
with actors, constituted a series of arguidos that have nothing to do with the case, just for the sake of constituting arguidos,
they followed a number of false leads. (26)Now they have reached an end,
after having spent a lot of money, maybe there isn't any more money to
spend, perhaps the British public fund may not support such expenditure.
And it will be archived, I can't see the Judiciary Police resuming the
investigation when Scotland Yard ends theirs. In the end, the process
was re-opened almost only and by the Scotland Yard, and when they leave
the process will be archived just like before.JF - Help me here in this line of reasoning, just a little while ago
you said that there are still lines of investigation that remain open.GA - Exactly, remain open.JF - ...if the Judiciary Police follows those lines of investigation...GA - Allow me just to recall something, in brief, this
court decision that has not yet become final (res judicata/passed into
matter adjudged), there are still a few days left for it to become
final, but I can give you an idea of what was...JF - The decision of the Appeal Court ? GA - Yes, it's new, the deadline for the appeal is taking place.JF - Of course.GA - I can tell you what in essence is concluded, is that
the line of investigation that is here (book) and remains open, is a
plausible one. And we can conclude that from this decision like we could
conclude from the decision of the temporary injunction.(27)JF - That's included in the decision of the Lisbon Appeal Court that acquitted you from paying the indemnification?GA - Exactly, and in the temporary injunction they go
further, they actually said that it even though the Public Ministry had
archived the process, with another Public Ministry another result could
have occurred. Even so, this line of investigation isn't followed and
nothing is done relatively to it.JF - But by not following it, what does that mean? That the actual
direction of the Judiciary Police doesn't want this case to progress?GA - That's not the question. This is a case that appears to
be traumatizing several people, right? Maybe someone completely neutral
has to appear in face of all this, that decides to go on with the
investigation. In all the lines of investigation and this one that is
missing. (overlapping speech)JF - But is the Judiciary Police afraid of the truth?GA - There's something that the Public Ministry says in the
archival dispatch in respect to the reconstitution that wasn't carried
out because the friends of the couple didn't wish to return to Portugal.
They said the ones who lost with that, the ones who are jeopardised are
the MC. We could reach the conclusion that what they said - that we
believe to be contradictions or lies - was truthful. The
reconstitution could be good for them. Usually that is what happens, it
can have a good or bad result and this investigation...JF - Gonçalo please, just answer this question...GA - Allow me to conclude. If this line of investigation
reaches an end, with what is left to be done, and if at the end of all
that the conclusion is that the parents could not be, in any way,
held responsible for the disappearance of the child, that would only
help the couple.JF - Of course. Isn't the Portuguese Judiciary Police interested in finding the truth?GA - The Portuguese Judiciary Police is now likely more
interested in not hearing anyone speak about the case. Because
it's a case that has left several people distressed, it seems that there are people traumatized with the situation. People that want,
for example, to be able to prove that parents don't murder their own
children, I'm not saying that those did that of course. It seems
that there is a whole culture, a way of thinking that has existed until
recently and needs to be changed because we are all upset by it.JF - Manuel Rodrigues, the Judiciary Police doesn't want to find the truth?MR - I appreciate that you made me that question because I
don't agree with Gonçalo in this aspect, likely the only one. I don't
think that is the situation, it's not the 'not wanting to', I
think, like I said earlier, this process was subject to a
blockade in such a way, that at this moment it's extremely difficult to
escape from it. That is, what I want to say is that I agree because I have to agree with Gonçalo when he says that the British police
set out an investigation where they decided to constitute a series of arguidos in order to credibilize the couple, to take them out of that process because the only arguidos
that one sees is the couple, seeing that they are responsible
for what happened. For that, they constituted six more, or eight or nine
arguidos to divert attentions and diminish the possible
responsibility. (28)Now, to be able to move forward, in a process like this,
the timings have all been lost, everything disappeared, we need to have
this notion that it's very difficult at this time to recover a body,
it's very difficult to retrieve, even making a reconstruction, a
credible and exact idea of what took place yet it was imperative for
this to have been done.JF - That attempt was indispensable.MR - Exactly, and I don't understand why it was never
achieved, certainly not due to the unwillingness of the Judiciary
Police.JF - Not due to the unwillingness of the Judiciary Police?MR - Certainly not.JF - By whom then?MR - Someone has prevented that reconstitution, and that is why that those couples, friends of the McCann...TL - Inclusively, the friends themselves refused to come back.JF - But who is that someone?MR - Don't make me name things...JF - The English police, the English government?MR - We've already talked here about the direct assistance given to the couple by English governmental aids...JF - The English government and the English police, is that what you are trying to say?MR - Obviously. I cannot say anything else differently. I
cannot have a different interpretation when in a first exam that was
done in an English laboratory, because the Portuguese had the honesty of
sending them the evidence, they weren't even analysed here - 'let's
send it to England so they can carry out the tests so no doubts remain',
in a first moment...JF - Honesty or naivety?MR - Pure naivety. In a first moment 15 alleles of a
series of 19 appear, that constituted Maddie's DNA, and in a second
report those 15 alleles had completely vanished, there was no longer any
DNA of the girl present in there.(29)JF - So, what you are saying is that the probabilities for the
"Guilt to die single" (Portuguese saying, no one get's blamed for it)
are high.MR - Extremely high.RP - It's a certainty.JF - So, the "Guilt dies single" then professor?RP - Yes, it will, it absolutely will. Now, what I would like to tell you João is that...JF - - But in your opinion, Professor, the Judiciary Police is doing everything they can or they want to archive the case?RP - The Judiciary Police was under great pressure by the huge
media coverage of the case, it was very active then and at a certain
point in time it short-circuited. Why? Because what happened in the
Algarve was that negligent parents left their children helpless, who
could not defend themselves from natural or human threats, all alone!
And in the sequence of that, which initially was a crime of abandonment,
the child disappeared - there are no doubt about this.(30)TL - And that was everyday.RP - For the English media what happened was that in an exotic
country in the south of Europe, in a tourist resort, one child
disappeared, full stop. And that the English police is unable of finding
out why, full stop. This second story, is a narrative that is totally
detached from reality. Thus, what failed in there, and I insist, was the
first moment. In the Portuguese Penal code, the Public Ministry who is
considered to be the "Master" of the inquest (process), but rarely
intervenes. Let me add, that I feel most reassured because the Appeal Court produced a balanced decision, and even though the case isn't
over yet, it's a civil process and there is still an appeal to the
Supreme, it seems to me that what the Appeal Court concluded is
correct. It doesn't say that the investigation of the Judiciary Police
is truthful but says that what is revealed in the book fits with
the investigation, and therefore, within the freedom of information,
within the freedom of the press, can be made public.(31)JF - - That is a plausible line of investigation. Gonçalo Amaral are you going to sue the McCann couple?GA - At this moment I'm not thinking about that. There is
always a reckoning of the numbers, the case has not yet ended, there are
still appeals, let's see what will happen from now on, and then I'll
decide. JF - But you suffered damages, well, you obviously suffered moral damages, and you suffered material damages as well?GA - And others. We have to wait. I don't think that is
essential at this moment. What is essential now is to wait for this
deadline to end, that the couple has to make an appeal, verify, to know
the basis of their appeal, and only then react. JF - What is going to be necessary for you to take that step? To make that decision to eventually sue the McCann couple.GA - If at the end of this appeal..JF - Did you not think about that yet?GA - I thought about that, yes, but to affirm that I'm going
to sue, let's take it slowly. I've to tell you another thing, to sue
the McCann couple alone, what for? They're over there in England, I
would have to go there, for an eventual thing, that would take years,
and then would the sentence be executed there in England? It would have
to be done by a number of people. RP - Inspector please allow me to say something very briefly,
just to complement. What in fact is curious in the process, is that when
the couple gave their Statement of Identity and Residence, they used an
address in England, isn't it true?GA - Yes, that's true.JF - Are you going to publish this book in English?GA - I'm planning to do that, yes. I know that the couple
said that if anyone buys the book in England they would sue them. So?
The couple does not own the English language and the book can be
published in any language, namely in English. In any country where
English is spoken or even via the internet. Now, what's going to happen,
I'll still need to talk to my publisher, who still hold copyrights on
the book. But I do have the intention of divulging the book even because
there are some copies going around and inadequate translations online,
and people have the right to know what my opinion is, and the opinion of
others, and know them through in the official work.JF - Gentlemen, madam, thank you so much for being here in this
special broadcast by CMTV. We conclude with another news piece. In just
one single day, in the exact same day Maddie was seen in the Brazil, in
Canada, in a ferry-boat in Ayamonte (Huelva, Spain) and even in Syria.
The thesis multiply but of Maddie there is not a single trace.News Segment 4Voice Over - 3 of May 2007, a British little girl, 3-years-old,
disappears from the hotel's (sic, apartment) bedroom where she slept
with her twin siblings, in the Ocean club tourist resort, in Praia da
Luz, Algarve. This, whilst the parents dined with friends in a
restaurant, less than fifty (sic, only in a straight line) meters away
from the apartment. Two days later the Judiciary Police of Faro says
that they could now state that the daughter of the McCann couple had
been abducted. A theory that continues to be alive in the memory and on
newspaper pages that every year tell about another suspect, of another
search carried out by the Portuguese authorities or English in Praia da
Luz, or of another statement by someone that guarantees to have seen the
girl, whom, if still alive, is now 12 years-old.
Anna Stam, a 42 years-old Dutch, was working in a shop when a blonde and
blue eyed little girl asked her 'Do you know where my Mummy is?',
convinced her mother was the woman that was with her, Anna pointed in
the woman direction. 'She is not my Mummy, they took me from my
holiday', said the child who according to the description was 4 or 5
years-old and spoke in a perfect English with a French accent (sic, the
woman had the accent not the child).
This is just one of the sightings that can be found in the over thirty volumes and dossiers
of the investigation that is yet to be concluded. The information is so
dispersed, that on the same day (11th May 2007) Maddie was seen in
Indonesia, in Singapore, in Mozambique, in Brazil, in Canada, in
Belgium, at Zurich's airport in Switzerland, in a ferry-boat in Ayamonte
at the Spanish border and even in Syria. Not all sightings were taken
into account, only those which according to the authorities presented
solid elements, like one description of a sighting by two British
sisters, who assured to have travelled in a bus in Malta with a little
girl resembling Maddie who even had a similar eye defect in the right
eye and who said to the woman who was with her 'You're not my Mummy'.
After Malta it was Morocco,
the stage of numerous sightings. First the sighing by a Norwegian woman
alleging she had seen a girl similar to the oldest daughter of the
McCann couple at a petrol station, followed by dozens of sightings, like
one sighting of Madeleine in a mansion, in Massira, on the streets of
Agadir or in Marrakech. After Morocco, the little girl that cried 'Help'
in Mem Martins, in Amadora (Lisbon suburbs), then a Roma couple with a
baby stroller in France, with a child that didn't appear to be theirs.
Hundreds of psychic visions and divinations that placed the little girl
at a specific street in Sagres or inside a hole in the vicinity of the
tourist resort from where she had disappeared. Theories are abundant, of
Madeleine Mccann there is not a single trace. Recently, in 2015, the
Australian police entered in action, at stake the body of a child, with
light hairs, that would have been murdered in 2007 and placed inside a
suitcase, a few days later the conclusion - the body found in Australia
wasn't Maddie's. Nine years and hundreds of sightings later the mystery
remains and the sightings multiply.
Cândido, a former farmer and fisherman, that lives less than 100 meters
away of the tourist resort from where the English child disappeared told
CMTV why he can't erase the night of May 3, 2007 from his memory.** Cândido - On the day the girl disappeared, her father, at 1am,
was walking around with a bottle of wine in his hand, and he was 'atascado'
(drunk), and screaming for the girl near to my door, I live right there
close to the main road, and I said 'what's going on, what's all this
noise?' and he said 'menina, menina' (girl, girl), 'embora, embora'
(gone, gone), and I said 'girl gone, what girl?', and he said 'menina',
and I said 'go call the police', 3 hours he said, 3 hours since the girl
went missing, and I said 'call the police', and he said 'no police,
no'.
Voice Over - Today Madeleine McCann is not the same child that we got
used to watch in loop on TV. If she is alive she will be 12 years-old.
For now it's the synonym of a perfect crime. No one has seen her, no one
knows where she is, much less what happened on that night of 2007.JF - This is the end point of this special broadcast by CMTV,
'Maddie, the Mystery', where we tried to bring new facts into light so
this mystery may one day be solved.Broadcast by CMTV, S16 EP20, CM Special: Maddie, the Mystery, April 23, 2016 - first draftNotes
of Joana Morais *Same reconstruction that had been broadcast in the CMTV Special in 2013, see Zizi's full translation with extra notes.** A fisherman's story, for what it's worth. A very poor news
segment riddled with avoidable mistakes to conclude an important debate,
a bad editorial decision.